There’s a time to produce and a time to promote.

by | Jan 22, 2015 | Media and Public Relations, Mindset, Motorsports Marketing for Tracks, Teams and Businesses, Racing Social Media

Without one, it’s really tough to successfully do the other. You might not see it directly as a racer – in theory you can do the work of building a fast race car and win races without ever promoting. But that’s just theory. How many successful racers do you know that pay the bills just by winning races? I don’t know any at all. Purse structures don’t support that model. Without some level of promotion, you can’t pay for your racing, except for out of your own pocket. (Which I would also argue makes you a successful person, not necessarily a successful racer. Nothing – nothing at all – wrong with that. But recognize the distinction.) Successful racers pay for their programs off the track with apparel sales, sponsorship packages, product partnerships and more. And how do they do that? Promotion. You can’t sell tickets to your race track, t-shirts or sponsorship packages for your race team, and race car parts or shock dyno services for your racing business if no one knows who you are, what you do and why they should want to be a part of that. You can’t pay the bills without promotion. But here’s the catch you’ve probably already considered– you can’t promote without producing. At least, not for long. If all you do is promote your race track but you don’t do the work, you won’t continue to sell tickets. Twitter won’t find your fans working restrooms. You can’t make promises to marketing partners without doing the work. You can’t tell people about your speed shop if you don’t have any parts. You can’t...

How to Nip Controversy in the Bud (Plus Mob Justice.)

by | Jan 8, 2015 | Media and Public Relations, Racing Social Media

I came across a post the other day from the ultra-brilliant Seth Godin on mob justice and it got my gears turning – especially in light of the recent controversy in the sprint car world between two series’ and comments that were allegedly made to a reporter. In this post from 2005, Godin lays out one of the side effects of media in which the readers can also comment back publicly: 1. Controversy is fun to write 2. Controversy is fun to read 3. Piling on is safe and fun 4. Undoing 1, 2 and 3 is no fun, hard work and easy to avoid. Fueling controversy, he argues, is like ‘mob justice’ – when someone decides to “spread a rumor, a posse would appear, ask no questions, beat the crap out of you and move on.” He continues: “A friend of mine is now in a similar situation (and, as Arlo Guthrie famously said, “you may find yourself in a similar situation…”). And the question is, what should he do. If he takes the time to point out to those bloggers that they’re wrong, that they’ve taken one data point and blown it out of proportion while ignoring the facts (and there are many facts that they’ve ignored) he’s just adding fuel to the fire. “Of course you’ll deny it,” they’ve said to him on the phone, “that just proves we’re right”.” If you’re reading this and thinking, ‘Well that sucks!’ Then I’d have to agree with you and Seth. Because whether or not you said the thing or did the deed, you’ll be called a liar. There’s...

Consistency Wins Championships (and Other Fun Things. Like Money.)

by | Nov 20, 2014 | Media and Public Relations, Mindset, Motorsports Marketing for Tracks, Teams and Businesses, Racing Social Media, Racing Sponsorship

“Bad marketing done consistently will beat good marketing done inconsistently.” – I’m not sure who said it, or even where I first read it, but I like it. A lot. It’s a good reminder to me that just showing up consistently is more than most people will do. On every level of racing, there are champions. Championships are designed to name and reward the best performer over the course of a season. How many times, though, have you seen or heard someone gripe about a champion who didn’t win that many races? That’s why championships can be so controversial, and why NASCAR in particular has struggled with how to determine a champion over the last decade. We all know that consistency is the key to winning championships, even if that means you rarely, if ever, see the top of the podium. In racing, I get that. But for me, this ‘consistent bad marketing’ principle can be frustrating. And eye-opening. Because while I’m toiling away, whittling every sentence to perfection, other people are showing up more often. See, I’m a perfectionist. A lot of times, this is a great thing. My clients especially love it. But some times it slows me down, waiting to release things or submit a piece of work until every little detail is perfect. (By the way, I’m not trying to say that others are doing bad marketing and I’m doing good – often, we’re just different. In fact, that’s DirtyMouth in a nutshell. The reason that I created my business and started publishing (free!) content here is that in many ways, I don’t think we do...

You’re in the right place. + The Dirt Classic Presented by Kasey Kahne

by | Sep 26, 2014 | Media and Public Relations, Motorsports Marketing for Tracks, Teams and Businesses, Thoughts and Rants

You’ve come to the right place. That’s what I’m about, in business and life. Whether I’m opening the door to my house or welcoming you to my website, that’s what I want people, my kind of people, to feel. You’re in the right place. That’s one of the million reasons that I’m excited for this weekend. On Saturday, we’re launching what we hope will become the first annual Dirt Classic Presented by Kasey Kahne at Lincoln Speedway, a $20,000-to-win sprint car race that has been, let’s just say, very well-received by both racers and fans already. And the goal? To make every single person who walks through the gates feel like they’re in the right place. Maybe that’s not how my friends on the Dirt Classic team, from Jarrod Adams of Adams Investing to Alan Kreitzer of Lincoln Speedway to Kasey himself, might describe it, but that’s one of my main goals. I believe that events become great because of the experience, and the feelings it invokes. For this race, our shared vision is to create an unrivaled experience. For me, that’s not just the action on the track – the thrill of side-by-side racing, slide jobs and last-lap passes. It’s sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with fans that share the same passion as you do. It’s racing against some of the best in the business, pitting next to a new competitor. It’s listening to music with your family, seeing the joy on a kid’s face when he gets a decal or an autograph, and trading racing stories with old friends. If you’re a race fan, driver, promoter, team owner or manager...

Stories Matter. (Especially in Racing.)

by | Jul 31, 2014 | Media and Public Relations, Mindset, Motorsports Marketing for Tracks, Teams and Businesses, Racing Social Media, Racing Sponsorship

Last night, we were fortunate enough to be able to attend the Lou Blaney Memorial at Sharon Speedway. Having grown up watching Lou and my uncle, Brian Swartzlander, go toe-to-toe for years in our local modified division, I’m happy to be able to be a part of an event that honors him every year. It’s probably not surprising that Lou’s hotshoe sons, Dave and Dale, were able to dominate the field and earned first and second place honors, respectively. Dave started in the third position and it was clear from early on that he had the car to beat. From the moment Dave took the green, and then the lead on lap six, I noticed most fans with their eyes darting back and forth between the brothers’ cars, watching to see what line they would take and what potential struggle lapped traffic would give them. Dale made his way into second place on lap 15 but didn’t give his teammate a challenge. That didn’t stop most from keeping their eyes glued to the pair, following the action and giving a rousing ovation at the finish. Watching that race, and watching the fans’ reaction, it was really clear how much of the excitement of racing is tied to a story. Yes, Dave’s impressive performance would have been entertaining whether or not he was Lou’s son. But the added hook of racing against his brother to win the race held in his father’s honor – for the first time, no less – was enough to keep everyone on their edge of their seats. Talking to drivers and crew in the pits...

Your unfair advantage. (Or, cheating legally.)

by | Jul 10, 2014 | Media and Public Relations, Mindset, Motorsports Marketing for Tracks, Teams and Businesses, Racing Sponsorship

We established last week in that one reason people accuse others of cheating is because they don’t like to lose. And they really don’t like to lose big. And for some reason, people really, really don’t want to accept that they lost to someone else’s natural advantage. They don’t want to think that someone can be that much smarter than them, in that much better shape than them, or be that much better at driving than them. They love to blame factors that are out of their control, right? The most common two factors: money and cheating. A lot of people like to think that at a base level, everyone is the same. Everyone has the same potential. We get frustrated when we see people in great shape, but deep down we think that we have the same potential. So it’s not cheating. (Insert motivational quote here.) But we don’t all have the same potential in every aspect of our lives. The truth is that most people who are accused of cheating aren’t doing anything illegal. Many of them are ‘cheating’ legally by using an unfair advantage. Illegal cheating is breaking the rules. It’s doing something that you’re not allowed to be doing. An unfair advantage is something that you’re competitors don’t have and can’t easily copy. Because they’re not you. Insider trading is illegal. Using the connections that you have or network you’ve built to get inside information about engine tuning, shock adjustments and a million other things is not illegal – it’s an unfair advantage. Buying components that are outside of the rules is cheating. Spending money...